Mayhem in Montreal: Lock Up Your Crucifixes

To fans of the extreme metal sub-genre, the above statement is likely to be controversial. Primarily, this is because in order to maintain black metal kvlt kred, your favourite band must have broken up after releasing a single cassette demo in 1992, and have a name only pronounceable if you learned to speak Klingon backwards at a young age. Mayhem, with a handful of actual CDs and a level of notoriety that’s made them familiar everywhere from vernissages in Williamsburg to the offices of Rolling Stone, definitely do not qualify. Nevertheless, the constant evolution of the band, has continually advanced the genre, and they’re widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers of the genre’s Second Wave.

The First Wave of black metal began in Europe in the early 1980s. At that time, European bands, perhaps unaware that British metal-heads Venom were kidding, began incorporating that group’s Satanic imagery into a raw, low-fi style of primal thrash that quickly evolved into a new genre. Characterized by blast-beats, crude recording quality, and rasped vocals, proto-black metal didn’t exactly take off with releases like Bathory’s self titled first album, or Hellhammer’s Triumph of Death demo. But it did make an impression on the worldwide metal underground, influencing bands like Brazil’s Sarcofago and Vulcano, the Czech Republic’s Root, and even Canada’s Blasphemy. And, of course, Norway’s Mayhem.

Mayhem, who became the focal point of the early 90s Norwegian scene that spawned Emperor, Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, and Gorgoroth, has a long history that sounds like several episodes of Discovery Channel’s Most Evil strung together. It gets repeated every twenty minutes somewhere on the internet, so I’ll simply provided the Coles Notes here:

Band forms in 1984. Singer shoots himself in head. Guitarist mourns death by taking photos (later used as the cover of a ‘bootleg’ record) and transforming skull fragments into street fair jewellery. Bassist quits, replaced by guy named after an orc. Orc-bassist stabs guitarist to death. Band breaks up. Band reforms with founding bassist, first vocalist, early drummer, and new guitarist who looks like a demonic Snidely Whiplash. Band releases albums infrequently, presumably whenever someone needs bail money. Another line-up change, replacing singer and guitarist. Band comes to Montreal. Hopefully.

Each of Mayhem’s releases is brilliant in its own, demented way. Their first EP, 1987’s Deathcrush, showcased what is now considered the traditional black metal sound, namely a continuous stream of ill-mannered screaming over what sounds like a record player clogged with graveyard dirt. 1994’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, released after the death of both the aforementioned singer and guitarist, is perhaps the most perfect black metal album ever recorded. The guitars, bassier than in most black metal mixes, churn out riff after minor key riff, while session vocalist Attila Csihar vomits lyrics, artfully off-beat and with a miserable hostility. With 1997’s Wolf’s Lair Abyss and 2000’s Grand Declaration of War, the band took a more experimental approach, with new guitarist Blasphemer abandoning simple power chord progressions for martial rhythms and progressive sections, like a math teacher writing a death march. 2004’s Chimera attempted a more straightforward approach, but still challenged the listener to find an access point not guarded by angular riffs and singer Maniac’s hateful screeching, a sonic twin to Andy Serkis’s Gollum. And 2007’s Ordo Ad Chao saw the return of Csihar in a highly experimental record that was more nightmarish doom than the pounding violence of early releases.

It’ll be interesting to see how Mayhem constructs a set from such disparate material, and whether they’ll be able to perform it without injuring anyone. But I’ll be front row centre for the greatest black metal band in the world, even if it kills me. Which it probably will.

Here’s a clip of Mayhem performing Deathcrush live.

Mayhem performs Monday, June 15th, at Foufounes Electrique, with Slaotvean, The Last Felony, and Wolven Ancestry. Tickets are $30.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.